Fixed Compass
by the baka rangers
Summary: AU. It's a road trip! Sora, Riku, and the gang (mainly Selphie and Yuffie) are off on a relaxing road trip. But this particular trip is hardly relaxing. And the fixed compass is only pointing Riku and Sora in one direction. Is this destiny? RikuSora.
1. Part I

_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and Co. belongs to their respective parties, not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Enix. _

_Warnings: **Slash. AU. Er... Very suggestive comments—cuz we all know that Riku's a pervert. Profanity, but nothing too extreme. Or so we say. **_

_Rating for the Story: R _

_Thanks **loads** to: **Elvey-san**, **Tom**, and **Julie** for all their support and their beta reading. Marvelous job guys! -huggles all of 'em- We wanna kidnap you guys and chain you to our bedposts cuz we love you so much! ___

* * *

Fixed Compass

By Tomi and Somi

(a.k.a. the baka rangers)

* * *

Part I:

"Anything else, dears?" inquired the waitress as she watched Sora sip his citrus drink. She reached down and collected their plates and utensils, leaving only their drinks.

"No, that's it for us, thanks!" replied the raven haired girl, Yuffie, who sat across from him. Sora nodded, smiling around the straw between his lips. Yuffie gave the waitress her own smile (albeit a sleepy one) as she took out some bills and paid the waitress for their breakfast.

"All right then. Have fun on your trip!" She nodded to their bags, smiling benevolently. "Thank you for coming, you two!" With that, the waitress hustled away.

Sora continued to sip his drink lazily. It was finally summertime in Traverse Town, Sora's favorite time of the year. The air was boiling hot and he was trying to savor as much of the chill of his drink as he could.

Yuffie and he were at La Passée (1), the local restaurant in town, waiting for their friends Selphie and Riku to show up. It was very early in the morning, about 6 AM, and they were very lucky the restaurant actually opened this early.

They had all agreed to meet here as a starting point for their road trip. Sora remembered it was just last Friday, the last day of school, when Riku had caught up with him on his way home to ask if he wanted to go on a road trip with the gang. Of course, Sora had accepted right away. After all, didn't he deserve some fun after spending nine and a half months in Hell? Hell yeah, he did!

Since their little gang was not so little, they had decided to split into two groups. One group consisted of Sora, Riku, Yuffie, and Selphie (He had no idea how that had happened—why couldn't they have gone with Leon and Cloud instead?); the other group contained, well, everyone else. They had all settled on starting the trip three days hence from Friday. And today was Monday, that fated day, and _still,_ after finishing his breakfast, he saw no sign of either Selphie or Riku. Where the hell were they?

He sighed, finishing his drink and leaned back on his patio chair. He looked out at the town square. Right now, it wouldn't be difficult at all to spot his 'missing' friends. Seeing as it was so early, no one was out and about at all, making it very calm and peaceful. He closed his eyes. He could hear the thatched roof of the patio rustle in the light, hot breeze that blew through the square.

"Where is (_yawn_) Selphie?" queried Yuffie, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn. "If she doesn't get here soon, we'll never get to Wonderland in time to avoid the crowds. That's why we got up so early in the first place! And where the hell is Riku?"

"Hmm, don't worry. I'm sure they'll get here soon," he replied, eyes still closed.

No sooner had those words left his mouth they heard the sound of distant footsteps. The footsteps grew louder and quicker with each passing second, accompanied with delicate "huff-huff's". Sora opened his eyes to see Selphie running towards them, shopping bags clutched in each hand.

"Sorry to (_huff_) keep you guys (_huff_) waiting!" panted Selphie, somehow managing to make them sound cheery. She slid to a halt in front of them. "Just had to do (_huff_) some last minute shopping!" She held up her bags(2), a grin spreading across her face. "See?"

"Oh, Selph." Sora shook his head, a fond smile on his face though he was clearly exasperated with her.

Yuffie giggled, winking at him. "She can't help it! She's a girl—what d'you expect?"

He snorted. "Shut up, Yuffie. You're just like her!" he accused, pointing a finger at her.

"I know!" she chirped and the three of them broke down laughing.

Sora closed his eyes, relishing the moment. He loved times like these, where all they did was hang out and goof around. It was nice. Especially when they didn't have much time left together because, as they all knew, college was just right around the corner. Selphie had nothing to worry about, her being only 15. But the others... Yuffie, who was 19, was finally going to college this fall after taking a year off from school. Sora was just done with his first year of high school. He had two more years(3) before he'd have to leave for college. And Riku, Sora frowned, only had one more year... He'd be leaving soon, probably to some rich, private university somewhere. Honestly, Sora didn't want Riku to go away, ever.

Someone poked him softly in the cheek. "Hey now, what's the matter, Sora?" came Riku's familiar voice.

Puffing out his cheek, Sora opened his eyes and glared at him. "You," he said. "You're late."

Riku smirked. "Aww, aren't you just dandy this morning." It wasn't a question. It was Riku teasing him. As usual.

"Shaddup!" His cheeks puffed out even more. Sora crossed his arms and huffed, looking away from Riku. Stupid Riku and his teasing.

Arms slid slowly over his shoulders to embrace him from the back causing him to stiffen and then relax. Riku moved so his mouth was just beside Sora's ear. "C'mon Sora... Don't be mad," he murmured. "I was just teasing."

Sora struggled and squirmed a bit, his attempts half-hearted. "I know!" he whined. "Now let go." Riku's embrace caused warmth to spread throughout his body. It was a weird soothing sensation, but it was too good to feel comfortable.

Riku tightened his embrace. "No," he said.

Sora struggled even more. He could just _hear_ the smirk in Riku's voice.

Someone, or rather a couple of someones giggled.

"Heehee, as much as we like to see you two flirting, we'd best be going because if we don't, we'd be run over by the crowds at Wonderland when we get there." Yuffie grinned.

Yuffie and Selphie. Sora mentally groaned as a deep blush covered his cheek. He couldn't believe he had just forgotten those two were in the room! Argh, stupid Riku! It was all his fault.

Riku slowly released him with an inaudible sigh. "You two are no fun..." He straightened, tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his khaki boardshorts. "Well, I've got the car set and ready." He gestured vaguely to the entrance.

Sora looked to the entrance and saw Riku's SUV parked parallel to the restaurant's curb. Excited, he leapt up from his seat and rushed to the vehicle with Selphie close behind. He heard Riku chuckling softly behind him.

"So impatient, Sora," he commented.

Turning his head, Sora stuck his tongue out at him.

"I call shotgun!" shouted Selphie, only a few steps behind Sora.

"Not if I get there first!" interjected Sora. He knew it was a cheap shot, but, not really caring, he used his taller body to block Selphie and pulled open the car door, bouncing in. "Ha!" He shot Selphie a triumphant smirk.

"Aww..." sighed Selphie though she didn't seem disappointed at all. She gave him her own cute smirk and winked. "Oh well, I guess I'll just _have_ to sit in the back then..." Walking to the back seat, she opened the door and jumped in.

_What's up with her? _wondered Sora. _She's always faster than me... This_ is _Selphie, the _near_-raving, cutie-cute _lunatic_, we're talking about here. _

Sora let the thought fade as Riku sat down next to him in the driver's seat, a tiny smirk on his face. It made Riku look dazzling; then again, Riku was always incredibly handsome (and sexy). "What?" asked Riku, noticing Sora's inspection of his face.

"Nothing, nothing," replied Sora, waving it off and looking away. He busied himself with strapping on his seatbelt.

Riku shot him a curious look, but let the subject drop. Just as he was about to grab his own seatbelt, a hand stopped him.

"Riku, get out of the driver's seat," Yuffie commanded. "I'm driving. Remember what happened the last time you drove??"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I was distracted," he said, his eyes darting to Sora for a split second.

Selphie giggled. "That's not an excuse, _Ri-ku_!" she pointed out in singsong.

Sora nodded. "You _are_ a pretty bad driver, Riku. Whenever I'm with you, we always end up nearly crashing into something..." The 'last time' Yuffie had mentioned was the time when Riku had volunteered to drive them bowling. Needless to say he nearly ran over a cat, twice.

"That's because you were there Sora!" Riku said. "When you're there, I get a bit reckless."

"Wha?" What did he have to do with Riku's reckless driving? All he did was... sit there...

"Well, Sora's here now. If he distracts you then you shouldn't be driving," Yuffie said, giving him a superior look.

"Oh, fine! You drive then," huffed Riku a bit sullenly. He got out of the car, walking to Sora's side to sit, and Yuffie jumped in cheering.

"Thank you, Riku." Yuffie fluttered her eyelashes. "Ok, is everybody in? Have we got all our stuff?" asked Yuffie as she adjusted the car's mirrors. All their stuff had been crammed in the back storage area.

"Check! Everything's here!" Selphie informed with a bright grin. "Ohhhh, I wanna sit next to you, Yuffie! So we can talk girl stuff!" She poked Sora in the head. "Pwetty pwease, Sowa? Switch with me?"

Sora couldn't help but roll his eyes. Typical Selphie. He got out of his seat and walked over to her side. Opening the door, he waited for her to get out before he got in. He settled himself into his new seat, buckling in next to Riku and flashing him a bright smile. Really, Sora liked it better when he was next to Riku anyway. That was why he always called shotgun—Riku was always driving.

Yuffie eyed them from her rearview mirror. "Alright! Take it away Sergeant Selphie!"

"Okee-dokee!" Selphie mock saluted the older girl as Riku and Sora chuckled. "Everyone here?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they answered in unison.

"Seatbelts on?" giggled Selphie.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"All materials present?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Then we are go!" she crowed.

Yuffie revved up the engine and put the car in reverse. Carefully she backed up, switching gears, and entered the main road.

Sora leaned toward Riku, smirking. "Yuffie is a way better driver than you are, Riku."

Suddenly the car lurched, jerking them back into their seats as Yuffie sped hazardously down the road.

"What was that last one, Sora?" Riku asked innocently, though he gave him a very pointed look.

-----

After an hour of having their heads slammed into the side windows and clutching their seatbelts to avoid being thrown headfirst into the windshield, Sora and Riku were beginning to regret letting Yuffie drive _and_ letting Selphie sit next to her. Sora had a slight inkling Selphie was distracting Yuffie even _more_ than he distracted Riku when he was driving (though exactly how he distracted Riku, he had no idea; all he did was sit there!). After all, Yuffie had _nearly _crashed into six telephone poles (in a row!). It was time for an intervention. Otherwise, they would all be dead by the time they reached Wonderland. If they ever were to reach it at all.

"Oi, Selphie, let me switch places with you," growled Riku, Sora gripping his arm tightly as Yuffie swerved dangerously once again.

"Ohhhh, do I _have_ to, Riku?" whined Selphie. She threw her hands up in the air as Yuffie sped dangerously through a tunnel. "Wheeeeee!" she squealed.

"Selphie!" Sora cried urgently, his grip on Riku's hand tightening. "Switch with Riku!" He did not want to die. Oh no, dying was the last thing on Sora's mind. He had so many things to look forward to! He hadn't even received his first kiss, yet! They should give him that much, at least, before he died!

"Come on, Sora! It's like a roller coaster!!"

"Yeah, the Roller Coaster of _Death_..." he mumbled darkly. "Switch with Riku!"

"But I don't wanna switch!"

"Fine!" Riku said tightly, "Yuffie, I _demand_ you switch with me! Right now. Not that I'm tired of Sora clutching my arm or anything," he said glancing at Sora, whose eyes were wide in fear, "but his finger nails are digging into my arm! STOP!!!"

"Oh, fine. We'll stop at this gas station that's coming up, but I'm _still_ gonna drive! You can switch with Selphie!" said Yuffie, grinning a bit evilly.

_The _next_ stop?_ thought Sora wildly. He didn't think they were going to survive until then. "Riku!"

Riku glanced at him before reaching out and clasping Yuffie's shoulder tightly. "Damnit, Yuffie, **now**."

Yuffie sighed and rolled her eyes. "And you say I'm no fun," she muttered under her breath, but Sora heard her. She pulled to a stop on the side of the road.

Sora and Riku both breathed sighs of relief while Selphie moaned in disappointment. Sora felt a bit disappointed himself when Riku moved to the front seat. Oh, well. Selphie wasn't that bad, just a bit talkative. Or so he thought.

Sora never realized just how much the brunette could talk! No wonder Yuffie was distracted with Selphie. He sat there listening to Selphie chitchat about this and that, but unlike Kairi's gossiping, Selphie's was interesting to hear. She seemed scatterbrained, and maybe she was, but she knew the most interesting things. She was actually able to get _and_ keep his attention; Kairi was never able to do that. Sora eventually forgot he was disappointed in not being able to sit next to Riku though once in a while he would look up and find Riku gazing at him through the rearview mirror. It was weird and embarrassing, but he didn't mind too much. He wondered why?

He was listening to Selphie speak about an incident involving a warthog, a cat, and the unrequited love between the two when her cell phone rang. It turned out to be Kairi calling to report on her group's status. Kairi's group (which consisted of everyone else not in Sora's group: Wakka, Tidus, Aerith, Cloud, and Leon), who were traveling by van, had gotten lost.

"Already?" Sora had asked, surprised. He hadn't thought it was possible to be lost so soon, especially when Wonderland was only their first stop in a series of many.

"You'd be surprised," Riku had replied with a snort. He obviously had experience with this sort of thing.

Kairi informed them her group would still be meeting up with them at their last stop, Twilight Town, and that they were to have fun without them anyway

"Don't worry, I'm sure that won't be a problem," Riku had commented. Thankfully, Selphie was the one talking on the phone to Kairi, so she didn't hear that near-rude comment.

Selphie's energy seemed to dwindle after the phone call. Eventually, she ran out of energy and fell asleep with her head on Sora's shoulder, who in turn, rested his head lazily on her own, though he didn't fall asleep. Sleepiness seemed to spread to everyone else, too. Yuffie didn't seem to want to drive so recklessly anymore. She did, however, speed through the occasional tunnel, but it was probably to keep herself from falling asleep.

Sora shifted slightly, trying not to disturb Selphie, so he could see Riku better. Riku was resting his head in one hand, with his window rolled down, and was peering out at the scenery with impassive eyes. The light wind blew strands glossy of hair into his face, but he didn't seem to care. Riku was gorgeous, Sora noted, not for the first time.

In fact, all of his friends were very good-looking, in one way or another. They were all very atypical, too. All his friends were interesting. Well, with the exception of Kairi. Sure, she was pretty, but she was... average in a way. Come to think of it, compared to everyone else, Kairi was really very dull and boring. She didn't seem to have any interest in anything other than what other girls normally liked and she dressed very conservatively. There was nothing noticeable about her personality. Selphie, who had her bizarre, hyper personality, made Kairi look like a dull rock.

Sora winced. That wasn't very nice of him...

"Sora?"

Sora looked up at the sound of Riku's voice. "What?"

"What's wrong? You just flinched," Riku murmured. He wasn't even looking at him.

"O-oh, umm... nothing," Sora stammered. "Just thinking."

"Hmm." Riku straightened, turning to peer at him with icy aqua eyes and somehow those blue-green eyes weren't so icy, instead they were quite warm. It made Sora's stomach squirm. What did Riku do to him? Why did he have that affect on him?

"Sora..." Riku reached out and brushed his hair back gently. He lightly flushed. What was Riku doing? Riku's hand slid through his hair, down to the nape of his neck, sliding to his cheek. He lightly caressed Sora's cheek for a moment, leaning in.

His heart nearly stopped. Wait, was Riku going to _kiss_ him?!

"Sora..." Riku cooed, a slow heart-stopping smile spreading across his face. He leaned in even more and—

Flicked Sora's nose.

"Argh!" Sora jerked up, sending Selphie to the side with a thump ("Huh? What?" she mumbled groggily, waking.), and covered his nose with both hands.

Riku chuckled quietly. "You're so cute, Sora."

Sora glared at him, hands still covering his nose. "F-you Riku!"

Riku flashed him an amused, lecherous smirk. "Are you suggesting, Sora?" he asked, voice husky.

Sora's face flamed (he seemed to be doing that a lot recently). Mouth agape, he stared at Riku. "I-um-you-what?"

Riku leaned over to Sora as much as his seatbelt would allow, smirk still prominent on his face. "Me. You. Naked. Bed." He smirked. "Or car." Sora thought he was going to die of blood loss; his entire face was scarlet, including his ears, and if it was possible, he was sure his hair would turn red, too. Riku made himself look very inviting, until someone whack him over the head, messing up his silver locks slightly, causing Riku to glare at the offender.

"No more flirting!" Yuffie commanded, not looking away from the road. "We're finally here!"

"Yay!!!!" Selphie squealed, now wide awake.

Sora winced. He had forgotten Yuffie and Selphie were with them, again. Damnit, stupid Riku! Why did he always tease Sora?

Yuffie pulled up to Wonderland. They stopped in front of two enormous gates that, when closed, formed an enormous pink heart. The gates slowly opened and Yuffie drove down a long stone pathway with rows and rows of colorful flowers flanked on either side. It seemed to Sora that they made a design, but he couldn't quite see what it was.

As they neared a second set of gates, Sora could see a huge Ferris Wheel rise up in front of them. The gates opened, and Yuffie pulled into the parking lot. They could now see the ticket booths: little pink hearts with glass windows. Behind the ticket booths was a huge wall, covered in vines, hiding the Wonderland rides from view, save for the Ferris Wheel and the sky-scraping roller coaster. Sora definitely had to ride that.

Yuffie sped through the near-empty parking lot and skidded into a parking spot close to the ticket booths.

Sora smiled happily. Despite the fact that they had started off late, they had still arrived in time to beat the rush.

"Ok, Sergeant Selphie, do your duty!" ordered Yuffie, cheerfully.

"Okeedee!" Selphie saluted. "Money in hand, wallets, or purses?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" answered Sora and Riku.

"Camera ready to shoot down memories?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Alright then, let's go!" declared Yuffie.

* * *

Notes: 

1) La Passée- means "the past" in French (cursed language ;;). It's the restaurant in Traverse Town you first see when you arrive there in the game. We don't know the actual name so we just made one up.

2) If it's like before 6 AM, why are there stores opened (besides the fast-food places)?- They're not actually opened, per say. It's just that Selphie is rich so she can call them up in advance to open for her.

3) If Sora has only finished his first year of HS, why does it say he only has two more years? Aren't there four years total?- We're basing the schools on the regular Japanese ones, so there's only three years in HS.

Er... I think that's all for now. Anymore questions? Ask 'em in your review, but leave your **e-mail address**! We don't do review replies in the stories—except for the few reviewers who have no account, e-mail address, etc. We do thank-you's though. If you leave your reviews, you will be put on a mailing list for updates.

Tomi and Somi's Notes: This is our first Kingdom Hearts fic. Please don't be mean to us! It's also our first time writing together. It was originally supposed to be a one-shot for Uzumaki-sama's Contest, but school started and we just had no time for finish it -cries-. We take all advance courses, so we really do have no time to spare, except maybe during the holidays. **Please don't leave reviews saying "update soon!"** It'll make us _really_ sad because we might not be able to do that. We'll update when we can. Don't worry. The story's fully planned out (sorta) and about half of it is written. There will be 4-5 (**maybe** more) parts total. Please don't ask for it to be longer. There's no way we can manage a longer fic.


	2. Part II

_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and Co. belongs to their respective parties, not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Enix. _

_Thanks **loads** to: **Elvey-san**, **Tom**, and **Julie** for all their support and their beta reading. Marvelous job guys! -huggles all of 'em- We **still** wanna kidnap you guys and chain you to our bedposts cuz we love you so much!

* * *

_

Fixed Compass

By Tomi and Somi

(a.k.a. the baka rangers)

* * *

Part II:

Wonderland was just about the strangest theme park Sora had ever seen. Some things were just too big, and some too small. That was just about the only way He could describe it. He wasn't sure if he could do it in any other way. Wonderland was just too… weird.

They were walking around, examining the theme park and all its glory. Suddenly Selphie squealed.

"Ohhhhhhh!" She pointed to her right. "Look how cute that store is!"

Sora couldn't see what was so cute about that store. It was just strange. The store looked like a house of cards turned upside down. The door was flanked on either side by rabbits in top hats and suits, holding staffs topped off with playing cards. The House of Cards was what the shop was called; still, it seemed more like a casino than a shop.

"Let's go Yuffie! I wanna shop!" squealed Selphie as she started dragging Yuffie towards the store.

"Meet here in 6 hours; 3 PM!" Yuffie called, she and Selphie disappearing into the shop.

"Girls," sighed the boys in unison. Sora blushed ever so slightly as he looked up at Riku. Riku had that strange grin (smirk) on his face again, the one that always led him to blush brightly.

Riku tucked his hands into his boardshorts. "So… where to?"

Well, he really wanted to try that tall roller coaster he saw.

Sora placed his hands behind his back, shuffling his feat shyly—the picture of innocence. "Well… there was this one ride I wanted to try…"

-----

"Oh, shittttttttttttttttttttt!" groaned Riku, his voice carrying through the air as the roller coaster took a deep dive. It swerved before double looping.

Sora was having the time of his life! The loops took them around in great circles as they went over little bunny hills. They strained against their belts as they were pulled into the air, and swerved this way and that, all the while, feeling as if they were going to be tossed out of their seats! He loved it!

"Yes! We're coming up to the largest dip!" said Sora, positively glowing.

"Damnit!" growled Riku quietly.

Sora was about to ask Riku what was wrong, but instead whooped as the ride took a dive.

"Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he yelled, both hands clenching the safety bar tightly as he was momentarily lifted out of his seat before he released it.

Suddenly, Sora felt a hand grasp his own _tightly_ as they neared the bottom of the dip.

_Riku?_

When the ride was not going so fast, Sora turned his head to look at Riku, who refused to look at him. His eyes were wider than usual, lips pursed tightly. He looked scared. _Really_ scared. But that was impossible! _Riku_? Scared? Of a little roller coaster ride, no less! Why on earth was he scared? This was FUN!

They sped through a dark tunnel, the breeze rustling their hair. Sora felt Riku quickly unclench his hand as the light of the entrance greeted them. The ride slowed down, coming to a stop at the line.

"Riku?" he asked cautiously, stepping out onto the platform. "Are you okay?" He waited for Riku to step out too. "You looked kinda… scared… back there…"

Riku gave him a weak smile, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. "Fine. Just a bit scared of heights."

Sora stood there, hands fidgeting, and bit his lip, feeling thoroughly guilty. He hadn't known Riku was afraid of heights…. Right now, his brain was screaming "Bad Sora, bad friend!"

"Hey, don't worry." Riku firmly grasped his shoulder and steered him towards the exit. "It was actually kinda fun… in a weird twisted way."

That made Sora feel a _little_ better, but he still felt guilty on the whole. Riku was just too nice to him sometimes.

The hands grasping his shoulder moved and Sora fell into a one-arm embrace. He looked up; Riku was smirking down at him.

"How 'bout you make it up to me, Sora?" suggested Riku with a weird glint in his eyes.

That put Sora on edge. "How?" he asked, somewhat cautiously.

"Simple," replied the older boy, with his arms still around Sora's shoulder. He started steering him to a different section of the theme park. "You let me choose the next attraction. It's only fair."

That seemed logical, so Sora nodded, forgetting all about the strange glint that had been in Riku's eyes.

Riku's smirk widened. "This way, Sora, my dear…"

-----

Sora found himself standing in front of what was called The Haunted Circus. The entrance to the attraction held a huge replica of the pink and purple striped Cheshire Cat, the theme park's mascot, standing on its head with its mouth being the doorway. A wide, somewhat wicked, grin was on its face, and its tail was curled up into the air.

"T-the Haunted Circus?" asked Sora nervously.

"Yep." That glint was back in Riku's eyes. "I've heard rumors that it's really haunted." He studied Sora. "You're not _scared_, are you?" he taunted with a smirk.

"No!" Sora was quick to defend. "Why would I be scared?"

The truth was he really _was_ scared. If this was a haunted circus, it was bound to have clowns inside. Sora _hated_ clowns. He had been afraid of them ever since his fifth birthday party. He remembered a terrifying clown with a huge red nose and fluorescent red hair coming up to him and screaming, "ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!" Sora had screamed, running straight to his mother. He had stood by her, clutching her dress for the rest of the party.

Ahhhh… those were the good 'ole days. When a kid could run and hide behind his mommy without being teased. Now, as he glanced up at the haunted attraction, there was no mommy to protect him from his fears. Oh well, he would just count on Riku then.

Following close behind Riku (and being careful not to step on his shoes), Sora gulped and entered the mouth of the cat, which slowly opened for them. They stepped into the center of a circular room, and heard the mouth close behind them, taking with it the light from outside.

The room was dimly lit with candles attached to holders on the wall. Looking around, Sora saw that there were five archways, each closed off by ancient-looking wooden doors. There was a symbol above each door. The door to the left had the Ace of Spades; the next, the Ace of Hearts. The middle door held a golden crown above it. The next arch held the Ace of Clovers, and next to it, the far right, was the Ace of Diamonds. Each symbol emitted a strange glow, reminding him of the gates of Hell. The very thought sent shivers up his spine, because, for all he knew, they could have been.

He gave the symbols a once-over. He felt drawn to the arch with the Ace of Spades, so he walked over to it, feet moving against his will. The door swung open and he was pulled in.

Sora stumbled into the room, the door slamming behind him. "Huh? What the—!"

The room he was in was pitch-black. He turned on the spot and felt for the handle of the door. He grasped it and pulled as hard as he could to no avail. As he gave it one final, desperate tug, a light lit up behind him. He turned and searched for the source of the light. It came from the single beam of light that was shining down on to the center of a huge, heart-shaped stage.

Sora walked cautiously from his dark corner by the door to the stage. He stood in the center, where the light was, and looked around, trying to see his surroundings. It was no use; he couldn't see past where the light reached. Everything else was black.

Sora was about to step off the stage when shadows suddenly emerged from the darkness around him, forming strangely familiar figures.

The figures of hundreds and hundreds of ghastly pale monsters started to come straight at Sora. The monsters, with their disheveled and dirty bright hair, running face paints, and evil grins that showed pointy, rotten teeth, were truly frightening. It was only a split second before he realized what they were.

_Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!_

They circled him, towering above him, cackling and laughing all the while. Sora stared up at them with terror. He was surrounded! They were all around him!

_Nowayoutnoway**out**!_

He had to get out somehow! But how? _How_? Sora quickly scanned the area between him and the clowns, his heart pounding in his chest.

_Escapeescapeescapescape—THERE!_

He spotted an opening between the clowns; small, but it would work. Sora dashed out between them and, surprisingly, he didn't brush up against the clowns. He ran straight into the darkness, looking around even though shadows enclosed him. Out of the black, a shining door appeared. Sora ran towards it, speeding up as he heard the clowns cackling behind him. He reached the door, pulling it open with all his might. He ran through it, the door slamming shut behind him, and he leaned against it, heavily panting.

_FREEDOM!!!!!_

Or not. He looked around. He was in a long, cold corridor. Well, it wasn't exactly freedom, but it was close—at least this time it wasn't pitch-black.

A long rug ran down the stone floor of the corridor, and there were doors on each side of the corridor, each a different color, each emitting its own glowing color. The tiny light he had was from those very doors.

There was another door, a beautiful silver one at the very end of the corridor that made that side of the room positively glow.

Sora wearily eyed the doors. His first instinct was to choose the silver door at the end of the line, but, then again, it was the obvious choice, and, of course, the obvious trap. He groaned. Too many choices!

"Jeez… What kind of place is this?" he mumbled to himself. He glanced at the doors again. "I'll probably die here trying to find the way out…"

"_Or_," a wicked voiced broke in, "you can die **now**…"

Sora jumped, looking around frantically, trying to find the owner of that voice. No one was there.

"Up here, you silly boy…" the voice reprimanded.

Sora slowly looked up, and up, and up. When had the ceiling been _that_ high? Hovering above him was a face, a very, very big face.

Of a clown.

A particularly evil-looking clown.

His face was white, naturally white or painted, he could not tell. His eyes were merely slits of blood red, glowing deviously in the dim room. He grinned and it was most definitely _not_ in a nice way.

His grin widened. "ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!" he cackled.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sora screamed and ran for his life, arms flailing and legs pumping madly. He ran towards a yellow door, but when he tried to open it, he was repelled.

_Huh? _

He quickly ran to another door and was repelled again. Sora ran down the long corridor, trying doors, but to no avail—none of the doors would budge and he was _always_ repelled!

"What the hell is wrong with these doors?!" he screamed, breath coming in harsh exhalations from running so much.

The clown was cackling once again. Sora could feel it gliding closer and closer to him, just as he was getting closer to his new target: the silver door. He was almost there. The handle was just within reach.

**BAM!**

Sora fell, hitting the ground hard. The rug on the floor had come to life and tripped Sora, which is what caused him to fall. The clown head was closing down on him. He pushed himself off the ground and leapt for the handle. He felt it, and wrenched the door open. Running through, he slammed it closed and leaned against the door for support. He was actually shaking!

"T-that was _way_ too close for comfort," he panted, leaning his forehead against the cool door. He took a moment to gather up his will and turned around. He didn't want to be nastily surprised again.

Calming himself, he surveyed the room. He was inside yet another circular room, this time the room was brightly lit with a huge crystal chandelier. He cautiously walked to the center of the room, and this time, there were only two doors: one red, one pink.

Before Sora could even choose which door to go through, another clown head appeared in front of the red door, cackling. Only one choice now! He pivoted, running at full speed to the pink door, clown head right behind him. Yanking the door open, he was blinded by pink light. He ran through anyway, not waiting for his eyes to adjust. The clown was right behind him after all!

Sora ran and ran and promptly smacked into someone. He tumbled forward, falling onto the other person, causing the person to fall, too. With the speed he was running, the impact of the clash caused Sora to become winded and lightheaded. All he could see were pink blurs and—silver hair?

Sora smacked his head and blinked a couple of times. The room slowly came into focus. He saw that the pink light came from the many candles on the wall, all emitting a strange, pink glow. He was in a sort of library Sora realized as he scanned the thousands of books on the shelves.

Sora felt something move under him.

_Huh? _

He looked down and immediately blushed deeply. The person he had bumped into was Riku! He was straddling Riku! Holy Shit!

"Riku!" Sora quickly scrambled off his friend. "Sorry! I didn't mean to crush you like that! Why didn't you say anything?!" How dare Riku embarrass him time and time again!

"I wasn't in any rush…" Riku answered, smiling at him lazily.

Sora blinked at him. _Huh?_

Riku's smiled turned into his trademark smirk. "After all," he continued, "you looked so cute back there, Sora. Adorably blushing like that. Eyes out of focus… mouth panting." Riku was positively grinning now.

_Huh?!_

Sora felt his jaw drop. He made a strange little noise at the back of his throat and shut his mouth. For a moment he simply looked at Riku. Then: "Stupid Riku!!!"

Sora, with his face flaming, tried to push himself off the softly chuckling Riku. Riku had other ideas, however, and quickly grabbed him around the waist, pulling him closer.

"So cute, Sora…" he murmured and flipped them over so that now _he_ was the one on top. Riku leaned in closer, and some of his silky, silver locks fell across Sora's face.

Sora whimpered; was it possible for him to turn any redder?

"Riku…" he whined. "What are you doing? Stop it." He tried to push Riku off him, but the taller boy was too heavy.

"Why stop? Don't worry; I'm just trying to comfort you." Riku ran his hands gently through Sora's hair. "You were scared, right? I'll make you feel _all better_." He slowly caressed Sora's cheek.

Sora's eyes fluttered closed. Riku was right; this was soothing.

That is, until Riku suddenly cupped his Sora's chin in his hand. He could suddenly feel Riku's breath on his lips. His eyes shot open and he saw that their faces were nearly touching.

"R-Riku, wha?"

"Shhhh…" Riku shushed him, placing a finger on Sora's lips, tracing it lightly.

Hmm, that felt oddly nice and calming. Sora closed his eyes again, and absently wondered what Riku was doing to him. He felt Riku leaning in closer once again. He could almost feel Riku's lips with his own. He felt Riku draw in a breath, lean back, and flick Sora's nose. Again.

"Argh! Riku!!!!!" He pushed Riku off him, scrambling backwards, a pout on his face. Stupid Riku! ALWAYS teasing him! Why?!

"Why," he demanded, "do you _always_ do that?!"

"Not always," Riku chided. "And I do it because I can." He gave Sora one of his slow smirks. "Besides," he added, "you're so cute and gullible, Sora, I couldn't help it."

"F-you, Riku! You suck!" huffed Sora, outraged.

Riku gave him his slow, heart-stopping smirk. "That I do," he agreed. "But I only suck because I'm stuck on you, Sora."

Before Sora could respond, something materialized behind Riku's head. Sora stared at it in terror—it was another clown head!

"Ahhh! Riku, look out! Behind you!" He pointed to the clown head.

Riku wasn't even fazed, nor did he look back. He simply reached backwards and swiped his hand through the clown head, making it turn to static and disappear.

"A state-of-the-art hologram," he stated. He walked towards Sora and crouched down, bringing them to eye level. "That's what you were afraid of?"

Sora nodded shakily. Even if it was just a hologram, it was still pretty frightening.

Riku sighed. "Silly Sora," he said affectionately, making Sora blush once again. Seeing Riku tease him so affectionately made Sora feel a giddy, warm sensation inside his stomach. He knew he complained often about Riku's teasing, but the truth was, it made him happy whenever Riku's attention was on him and only him.

Did that make him weird? He hoped not. He just wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before Riku went off to his prestigious university. He really dreaded the thought of being separated from Riku.

"Hey, Sora."

He blinked, and looked up at Riku, who had already stood up. Riku held out a hand to help him up. Sora smiled and thanked him, taking the offered hand and letting Riku pull him upright. Riku didn't let go of his hand and Sora didn't seem to mind much.

Riku scanned the room. "Oh, well. I guess this place isn't haunted after all. Too bad." Seeing Sora's weary look, he smiled reassuringly. "C'mon, I'm sure if we retrace our footsteps, we can find the way out."

He began to lead Sora back to the pink door. Sora smiled at their entwined hands, feeling happy. Right now, if those clowns were to come back, he wouldn't be scared. He wouldn't be scared even if there were thousands of them. Because Riku was there with him, protecting him.

Because Riku was there with him, he wasn't alone.

-----

It took them a while to find the exit; it seemed the rooms in the Haunted Circus changed frequently. When they finally got out of that place, it was already 3 PM, their meeting time. It didn't take them long to find their way back to the meeting spot—by that time, they had already released each others' hands. It was even easier for them to spot the two girls. Yuffie and Selphie were in front of the House of cards, hands up in the air and hips sashaying as they danced around, ignoring the crowd they seemed to draw. At their feet were bags full of what looked to be munny. When asked, the girls said they won it at the House of Cards, which, Yuffie mentioned, was not a shop, but a casino. That brought up the question of how Selphie, who was 15 and underage, got in.

"How else?" Yuffie had questioned in reply. "Selph did what every rich girl would do: flash her platinum at the guard."

This made everyone in the group laugh. After goofing off a bit more, Riku reeled in the group back to the car and told them it was time to head off to their next destination: Halloween Town.

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" asked Yuffie as she buckled up in the driver's seat. Everyone was quiet as they thought it out for a while.

"Eh… well, Halloween Town is two towns away so that's about…" Sora trailed off as he mentally calculated how long 'two towns away' was in hours. "…three to four hours…"

"'Three to four hours'?" repeated Selphie, frowning. "On the road?"

Sora nodded. He knew how she felt. Two hours on the road he could stand. But three to four hours was too much. Who could sit through that? And in this heat? Even Selphie was bound to become tired talking for four hours straight.

"Let's stop at the next town and rest for the night," Riku suggested, his eyes once again on the scenery. "One of the hotels from my uncle's hotel chain is there. I can probably get us in for free."

"Whoa. A hotel chain?" Sora shook his head, amazed. "I knew your family was rich, Riku, but to _own_ a hotel chain? Which one is it?"

"Hollow Bastion," said Riku absently, his eyes watching the deserted scenery passing by.

"Hollow Bastion?!" came three dubious voices.

Sora blinked and shook his head as if to help absorb the information he was just given. Hollow Bastion was just about the most exclusive and expensive hotel there was, run by one of the richest man in the world, Lord Sephiroth. But Riku had said an uncle of his owned Hollow Bastion… That meant—

"Lord Sephiroth is your uncle?!"

"Yeah." Riku turned to look at their shocked expressions, raising an elegant eyebrow. "Why? Surprised?" He grinned.

"'Surprised?' Of course we are!" There seemed to be a lot of head shaking because Yuffie, too, shook her head in amazement. "Talk about dropping the bombshell."

"So if Lord Sephiroth is your uncle, do we call you 'Lord Riku'?" Selphie questioned, grinning teasingly.

Riku gave her a look. "Yes, Selphie, yes. You call me 'Lord Riku' now. If that doesn't suit you, 'your Lordship' is fine, too," he said dryly.

"Yes, your Lordship!" was the giggling reply.

Riku grinned, reaching out and flicking her forehead. "Brat." Riku turned his gaze to Sora and frowned. The younger boy looked very unhappy.

Sora _was_ very unhappy. Having the richest man in the world for an uncle just assured the fact that Riku would be leaving him soon for some prestigious university, probably far, far away…

"Sora?"

Riku would leave.

"Sora? Sora, what's wrong?" Yuffie glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

If Riku left, what would he do?

"Sora?"

Sora looked up at Riku with solemn eyes and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He smiled slightly. "I'm just a bit tired. Your plan sounds great! Let's stop for the night in the next town."

Riku's brow furrowed slightly, but he nodded cautiously, turning back to the scenery. Sora knew he was definitely going to be questioned later about this.

Someone took hold of his right hand. "Oh, Sora…" Selphie squeezed his hand with both of her own. Sora squeezed back. Somehow Selphie knew how he felt.

If Riku left… Sora would be alone.

* * *

Thanks to: Ellis, HypernatedRikku, **Tifas-love90** (Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Sorry for the wait.), **ForgivenLiar** (Thank-you! I'm glad you think so.), Draconis-Donavan, zenah, Ravensta692003, AnonymousKitsune, and Tenshi. Sorry for the wait, guys! 

Now wasn't that nice, boys and girls? You can thank Somi for writing much of the action.

Um... One more thing... If it seems like not a lot of people are interested in this story, then we'll probably stop writing it. No point in taking time out of our busy schedules to finish this if we have no encouragement... So be kind and review if you want this updated...


End file.
